Washing machine



. Mayzz, 1923,y i, 1356,05'2

- 1 AH/SxCRAVER WASHING MACHINE iiied sept. 29. lizzav i 2 sheeissheet .e

-' etented Mey 252, i923.

'nowsnn e.- cmvnn, or CHICAGO, Immers, sesiones or cnn-HALF To HENRY s. I connor omesso, rumors. f

WASHING inncstiznn.`

To all lwhom t l'may concern.'

Be it known that I, HOWARD S. @mimmo citizen of the United States, residing gt' Chicago, in the county of Cook end State ft illinois, have invented s. certoiimnew and useful Improvement in Washing Machines,

- of which the following is 'a speciiication.

My invention relates to Washing machines and is particularly 'adapted for that type of machine in which the clothes enga in ele ments hoven vertical. 4movement an In so on -intermittent rotary movement. An exemple'- of the eneral type is shown in In -prior Patent 0.1,361228 granted Decem er 7th, 1920. Such machines are sometimes referredto as vacuum i machines, being provided. with a plurality of vacuum cups. which fece downward in the 'clothes receptacle and are operated by a vertical shaft which recip 20 rocates vertically and also has an intermittent rotary movement which causes.l the cups to progress intermittentiy in-a circular path concentric with the shaft. The shaft posses up throughthe bottom of the clothes recep-v tacle and through a. centerl post -or sleeve which is stationary `and forms a guide for the sha't. The progressive or rotary move ment of the cups sometimes tends to Wrap .the clothes around the center post, which is- -very apt to tear them, vv .nd various'expedients have been employed for avoiding this objection. In my aforesaid prior patent I have provided means for periodically re versing the directionI of rotation otv the cups so that if the clothes start to `Wind around v the post they will soon be unwound from it.

That machine employed n ratchet wheel hav-v inv' teeth facing in both vdirections :1nd o. sef reversing poul which wouid not upon one set of vteeth for u while und then upon the other set, thus producing :i periodic re.- versing in the direction 'of rotation of the cups Thile'thzxt machine accomplished the ultimate object in a practical and efiicient manner,.nevertheless the ratchet was it positive acting device and forced the cups to rotote even when there might he :1- disudvuutage in their doiingr s o. Also, the ratchet produced a clicking: noise, which was usually slight. out nevertheless perceptible. The ob ject of my present invention 1s to provide pgn. impositivo connection between the shaft and-the driving mechanismso theti at any time the resistance to therotery ectiomof the cups become excessive, the .cnpsmay- Geese their rotary movement nntilthe resistWIV ance is reduced to a. proper degree. in myl L v machine the continued tvertic'rd movement of' the cups usually soony trees the clothe'sso that the action wiil hey` resumed without anyf attention on the part of Athe' operator. ."Anl other characteristic is that' the operator may hoid the cups 'against rotary movement without necessitating stopping ofthe muft;

chine. Another obect is to provide e.. con` @5 .structionv vwhich wil operate' silently, avoiding' even the siight click which is audible the machine of my former-'patent obtain my objects by the mechanism"if "f iiinstreted -inthe accompanying drawings.' ,70 f' n Winch-w v Figrvei is en assembly vioiif of a washing f if; ine embodying my invention. The v receptacle is shown l'in diametral f l 75'w- Figure 2 is a side elevfition of the .friction clutchl which I employ for transmitting rotary movement to the shaft. The clutch -is shown in'diametral section andthe figure also shows certain associated parts. Y jul) Figure 3 is e view analogtus to'Figure 2 A g but looking towards thclet in Figure 2J Figure 4 is a plan section on the line Figure 3. Figure shown in Figure :ibut showing said parts in changed. position.- y' Like numerals denote like parte throughout the several views. J

According to the design which I have w chosen for illustrating the invention,r the clothes receptacle i is cylindrical sind is apertured at the center ot the' bottom to accommodate the mein shaft 2 which passes up' through it. Surrounding' the shaft is e. stur95,'-

v'isnside elevation of the partst 'i which is pinned or otherwise rigidly secured' Cil shaft.

vbeneath disc l2. vIt

' itself4 supported by to it. This collar not only carries the shaft but excludes water from the parts beneath. A. friction disc 12'encircles'the`shaft andis provided with a hublfi which forms a support ttor the collar, and and parts carriedthereby.v Thisdisc Vfaces marginal tienne 16. A gasket 18 having a high frictionaf co-etl'icient encircles 'the 'shaft' may be regardedAas a clutch lining and may assume various forms and consist of various component elements.- ltlralfe and clutch linings are Well known and various types may be selected for use in my'v mechanism. This brake lining may beentirely omitted iidesired. The upper disc 12 lining 18 rest upon a lower friction vdisc 2o which faces upward 'and is splined uponv the shaft inthe sense of being vertically. movable along it but connected toit in such' manner as to impart a rotary movement to it. According tothe design shown, a pin 2l l. passes through the shaft and projects laterally from it and slides in vertical notches 22y in the sides of the hub 24k of the disc. One of the advantages or' thus notch-ing the disc hub' is to compensate forwear in thelining 18'. Another Objectis to enable the/lower disc to move toward and from the-upper disc to vary the pressure against it.-

Disc 'is supported upon a collar 26 which is loosely mounted-'oli sh ft 2 and is pins 28 projecting from the side of the collar and journled in the outer end of the biurcated lever-30.' il.

washer 29 vis supported .b v'a nutJ 81 which.` 'screws on to .the lower shouldered-end of shaft 2 and limits the amount of vertical play of collar26 vlengthwise of the shaft. .lt willA bc evident from the foregoing that the shaft and `tixeol'collar 10 'rests upon the upper disc 127 which in turn rests u iion the lining '18 which is supported by the lower disc 20.` Disc 2O rests upon the collar 26 which is supported by lever 3,0. The upperdisc is loosely mounted on the shafta while the lower one is fastened to' it (although slidably) and is rotatable uponv collar 26 as a std p bearing. Consequently' the shaft is controlled vertically by the collar 2G andg lever 30 but is treo to rota-tdi in its step bearing. `Also it is evident that normally .thcrewill 'be a creator amount ofiriction between. the two discs 12 and 2O than between the disc 2O an-d its supporting' collar 26 (the latter usually havingf its'upper surface.lubricated). llence when the weightbt the' shaft presses 'the up-y hence for the shaft .rotating the lever' 30 will of level-'30 at a aisance no appreciable clutching action and a rotary movement of the upper disc-wouldnot'be able to produce arotary movement of the shaft-especially of'resistance.v Hence the machine may be A consideredas having a clutch which will be" 'downward and is loosely mountedon they By preference it has a-depending':

in* active condition when subjected -to 'the weight' of the shaft and will be in non-active v'condition when relieved or' the weight of the shaft LeverBO has a fulcrumed pin 32 at itsl opposite end, Iwhich is slidingly mountedin a bracket 34 having a horizontal slot 36 as shown in Figure-1. This arinor lever vcaused to swing up and down in a vertical plane bya connecting rod 38 .pivotally connected at its lower end between the endsy of lever and at its upper end tovgear wheel 4() ,at a point distant from the centerE so as to obtain 'an eccentricection. vGear wheel 40,` 1s .driven by anyl suitablevgearing and power mechanism. i

.meshes with a 44 driven by a by a sheave 48 motor 52. It will be evident that when the motor is operating and the gear wheel is swing "up and about` the ful- This will cause In the illustrated design it belt 46. The 'belt vis. driven down. in a verticalplane crurned pin 32 as an axis.

' the collar 26 to travel up and down in a ver tical direction.

The swinging movement ot 'lever 30 is availed of to `impart a limited angular move- .lent to disc. l2, first `in one direction 4and This is .accomplished through the agency of theclutch mechanism herein above described. While the particular design may be considerably varied I have shown a pin 54 which point distant from they pin 28 as best shown in Figures 2, Sand 5. .`liis works within a slot 56 formed between lingers 58 which depend from andare preierably integral with the disc 1 2.l By coinparing Figures 3 and '5 of the' drawings it will be evident that the swinging movement olE the lover pin 54. having-'a horizontal component. This will produce a limited angular movement of the disc 12` first in .one direction` and then' in thc other` disc is traveling vertica lyapproximately' in unisouwith the shaft 2. The lever has' a plurality of apertures distances 'lrr'ini-thepin 28' toreceive pin 54 and thus vary/.the eccentricity or throw of oscillatory disc 12.

In practice, asthe lever down it will produce 1 -corresponding vertical movement iii thefcollar 26. This collar supports lthe lower friction disc 20, which'in ifthe tub l containedwater,.wh1ch would offer .a certain amount pinion 42 sicured to a slieave.

secured tothe sbatte@ of aprojects from the sidetwo i at the same time that thel 30 vibrutes up and,

3() will produce a movement in v `'120 57 located at dill'erent nascose ports shaft 2. The totaliof parts 26,

22, 18 and 12 is slightly less than the distance `between the collar and the washer` .29; hencaslight vertical play is 'provided for.' Let it be assumedI that the clothes receptacle is partially filledwithv water and clothing; It will be evident that the upward movement of collar 26 produces a' corresponding upward movement of the shaft and vacuum cups. The resistance of the water and clothes to the upward movement of. the cups adds to the apparent weight of the parte' resting upon collar. v25; consequently as the parts move upwardthe pressure of the two friction discs towards each other increased, In other words, during the upward movement not only does the weight ofthe disc 12 and supported parts create a resistance to the upward movement of the lower-disc but in addition the resistance of the contents ofthe clothes re'cep4 tacle, as well as theinertia of the supported' parts.l The consequence is/that during the upward movement there is abundant frictionale'n ment between the twoelements of the friction clutch to'ftiansmit the .angular movement of the upper disc 12to the lower disc 20 and `hernie to the shaft'. -On the downward movement the action is reversed or' the reason that the resistaneezinet by the clps in acting upon the clothes ismore lows that the lower ldisc 20l descends of its own weight suiciently ptdreleasefthe pressure between' the twodiscs. Consequently the return' angular movement of disc' 12 is without eiect upon the lower disc and imparts no angular movement'to it. The-pressure of the, upper disc 12 upon the friction lining 18 is no greater than the weight of the up r disc, which is negligible so far as its abi ity to rotatethe lower disc is concerned. hus onthe up-stroke the resistance met -by'the cups .is added to the weight of the parts carried .by disc 12 whereas on Vthe down stroke the resistance met by the cups is subtracted from the weight of the parts,

' effective only in one direction,

theresul'tbeing a minus quantity so to speak, and thus relieving the lower friction disc of any pressure otherithan that due to the weight of the v.upper disc itself. Thus the clutch, which is composed of Sugli discs, is

nd the result is anintermittent rotary or'step by step movement of the cups.

' It will be seen that in my machine there isf an impositive connection between the vacuum cups and those elements which rotate them, and in consequence if the clothes should become wrapped around the center post or tice this factor is such -that the'clothing' s;

if for any other reason the rotary movement of the cupsis opposed to an unusual degree they will stop rotating until the opposition ceases. Another advantage of this ,irriposi tive connection between the driving/mechanism and the cups is that the operator' by grasping one of rthe cups or one of the supporting arms may hold them .a inst rotation without'otherwise stoppin t e machine, thus enabling him to inspect t econtentsof the' machine or remove or add tothe amount of' clothing in the receptacle. By varyingl thedegree of opposingrfaces Aof the' friction disc or by varying the character of the intervening friction lining 18, the amount of opposition necessary Ato stop the pro essive angular movement of the cups may regulated. In pracf it gets wrapped around the center post wil roughnessofv the i sto the progressive movement of the cups be ore theelothin becomes damaged.

It will loel note that the cups face downward andare' convex on their upper surfaces.

land the fact that the clothes are usually beneath the cups still further insures' that the resistance to downward movement will" be sufficient to release the clutch.

l Another advanta in my present construction is4 that it 1s substantially noiseless.

The play between vthe' collar 10 and washer 29 need be hardly perceptible to enable' the clutch to release.A For the purpose of illustration I have shown inFigure 3 a perce 'tible space between the washer 29 and tlli)d lower end Aof collar 26 and in Figure 5 a perceptible s ace between the collar 10 and the upper en of hub 14. This is to illustra principle of action and is slightl ex ated. n any event, the play nee no great as to reduce any appreciable amount of noise. onsequentl even the sound of a pawl on ratchet teeth is'eliminated.- Again,I while the pin 54 is loose in slot 5 6 the amount of play may be reduced to/a very small quantity, thus avoiding any appreciable knocking sound when the pin reversesits direction of motion horizontally. While I have shown the discs 12 and 20fa`svhavin substantially flat fares, it will be understood that these maybe varied according to well known principles of friction clutch construction. y

Having thus described my invention what I claim as'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 5 y 1. A Washing machine having a clothes receptacle, a vertical shaft provided with clothes engaging elements, the shaft'being. movable vertically and angular-lv.4 a power kThis' adds still further to the elect,.for it 9 device :tor supporting the shaft end reciprm iressure el' the shaft on seid su )ortirnr D f power'device, seid clutch including en engulill lerly .movable driving; element and a. cooperating angnlnrly movable driven' element, connected to tlie shalt for moving it ange lerly.

2. A Washing machine lieving a clothes receptacle, shaft adapted to rotate and to reciprocate; longitudinally, clothes engaging elements carried by seid shaft e friction ele ment having a limited angular movement backward and forward, o second friction element adapted to cooperate with. the first and positively Aconnected to the :shaft 'for rotate ing it, and :1 power device for moving the second friction element into and 'out of operative engagement with the iirstend simultaneously more the shaft longitudinally.

3. A washing machine having e clothes re#- ceptacle, ,a vertical sliafft movable vertically end engnlarly, clothes engaging elements carried by seid elicit, a friction element snpporting the sliei't, means for imparting to it :L limited angular movement back and forth about a verticel wie, e second friction ele nient supporting' 'tile first `friction element and capable oi? imparting angular movement to the shaft, and e vertically reciprocating power element rfor supporting the secondl .iriction element and reciprocating it-vertically, Seid second friction element beingu rotatable independentljf/ of seid power element.

e. Ay Washing machine having a rotatable and. longitudinal* reciprocatable vertical shaft provided with a clothes engaging elemen-t, an opper *friction disc facing; down ward and adapted to sapport'the Weight ot the Shaft and having a limited angular' moveineni lioclr and vforth, the shaft being rotatable independently of' seid disc, el Second4 friction disc vlieneetli the first facing; npwerdland adapted to support it, the eecond'diec` beine' splined to the elieft, and a power device tor supporting the second disc and alternatelyraising; and lowering it. the seeondf'disc lacing; rotatable independently ot said power -device, and seid discs being (ronnie): with tlie shaft. ilv Washing machine having e clothes 1eccptecle,.a shalt passing up through the bottom of the .rccei'itaclm the siini't being ,ly and singularly movable and beingn engaging elements, e

provided will: clothes clutch including two-friction discs, one oi? (which .loosely n'ionntedontile shaft and Eli tlieotlrier is connected to 'the sli-att 'tor ron 'toting it.. one of said discs being? located above the other, means tor moving; the loose- 'ly mounted disc angnlarly lmck and fort-li. a bearing for the lower dise. and means' for anoviiignseid bearing up and down.

, 6. A Washing macliine-liavin a clothes receptacle, e shaft passing up tu'ough the bottom ci the receptacle, the shaft being disc for supporting it', and means iterv 'recipe rocnting the collar n vertically.

'7. A Washing machine havin fa clothes receptacle. e. shaft, passingnp t irouglnthe bottom of the receptacle. the shaft being vertically and angularly movable and being provided with' clothes engaging elements, a

clutch including two friction discs, one of which is loosely mounted on the shaft end the other is connected to the shaft for rotat ing it, one, el: said discs being located above the other, and a. powerA lever swinging in e `vertical plane, said lever being adapted 4to support the lower disc and adapted to los- 'eillate the loosely mounted disc.

8. in' e Washingmachine, a reeiprocatory vertical operating shaft, 'clothsvengegin elements carried by said shaft and compelle at all. times to move eifigudarlyy with it, v'and means for moving. said shaft vertically and singularly' including e friction clutch adapted to be thrown in and' out by the re- 'sistance of the' shaft to vertical movement.I

9. ln afvvi'shing machine a'recipiocatory vertical.' operating shaft, clothes ,enggiin elementsfearried "foy said shaft and compelled at all times to more -nglllarly there-with,v .a .power `device for vertically reciprocating the shaft., and zi'riction clutch including two' discs, the first of which supportsfthe shaft and the` second supports the first', the,y second disc beingcarried by the power de!" vice and one said discs beingl positively vconnectedv to the power device to be moped angnlarly by in.

1i). A waeliingmachine having a clothesy receptacle, e. vertical reciprocating Shaft,"

vacuum cups mounted thereon? e power device including e member moylnn; n vand down, and a'clntch having a irslelemontfor rotating said shafts and siidable ihereoln.4v

and a 'second element for supporting seid shaft and rotatable independently thereof, said first element being connected'to seid' power device 'to loe moved np and down by it into andeutet engegement with said second clutch member when the letten is i'ei cloiihes l movable'vertieaily and .anguhu'ly, a power f. device for reciprocating the shaft; yventically,

' van ecentric on thepower device, endn pau',

j, 'of cooperating clutch membelf'e, one of which '5, isconetedihe shaft;k #or rotatingl it andk theether iS-lvablefreltively to the shaft :ind is adaptedftoibe" osillated by said.

W'l e. CRAVER. 

